The BrainFood Show

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the clandestine way Niel Armstrong managed to get his application to the astronaut program in despite submitting it past the deadline. We then look at why he got to be first to walk on the moon when precedent should have had it been Buzz Aldrin.  Next up we look at the oft’ forgotten second thing Armstrong said when stepping out onto the moon.

Moving swiftly on we do a rapid fire of a variety of space related bonus facts including, but not limited to, the real color of the Sun, how much energy it would take to cause the Earth to stop orbiting the Sun, how old the Sun is in Sun years, how many Sun rises and sunsets astronauts aboard the International Space Station see every day, etc.

And for those curious on Simon and my treatise on the proper order of watching Star Trek series and other such thoughts, the mentioned forum post is here.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Final Frontier (Part 6): The Real Color of the Sun, How Many Nuclear Bomb Powered Rockets It Would Take to Stop the Earth Orbiting the Sun and Much, Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the real origin of Tang and what that has to do with Pop Rocks and how they work. We then move on to the interesting story behind the invention of Velcro and how it works.

Next up we look at whether NASA really spent many millions of dollars developing the famous “space pen” instead of just using a pencil like the Russians.

Moving on from there we discuss the fascinating reason why only one side of the moon faces the Earth and how this happened and is still happening, with the Earth itself slowing down such that in theory at some point only one side of it will face the moon.

Moving on, we look at what the actual odds of navigating a typical asteroid field in space would be and whether the depictions in movies here are actually accurate.

Finally, we respond to some user feedback, including on initial attempts listeners of the female persuasion have made to pee standing up without peeing all over themselves (which sounds even weirder to write, but is in reference to a previous space episode ;-)), and the interesting phenomenon of people using the show to fall asleep every night and whether we should take that as a good thing or a bad thing…

Also for reference, here is a picture of the two sides of Velcro under a microscope and another of the burdock plant seeds mentioned.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 5: Are the Odds of Successfully Navigating an Asteroid Field Really Approximately 3,720 to 1? appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by discussing the first space walk in which the cosmonaut in question very nearly got stuck out there and his adventures thereafter. We then move on to discussing how the idea that the moon is made of green cheese got started.

Next up we discuss the late 1950s plan the United States had to nuke the moon, which interesting enough involved a young Carl Sagan.  Failing in that endeavor we then look at that time the U.S. accidentally nuked Britain’s first satellite… That time the U.S. dropped four nuclear bombs on Spain accidentally, and then discuss the best thing that happened to Simon in the last year, which it turns out is not (apparently) getting married a couple weeks ago, but rather something else.

Also for reference, here is a picture of the Russian spacecraft mentioned in the episode and here is a link to the Tom Kirby song.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 4: The U.S. Plan to Nuke the Moon, Why People Thought the Moon was Made of Cheese and Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by following up on a previous discussion on Daimler and what exactly a little girl named Mercedes had to do with things. We then jump into the surprisingly oft’ requested follow up on Simon’s first ranch dressing experience.

Next up we move into the meat of the episode, discussing how astronauts scratch an itch in their space suits, followed by looking at the surprisingly long time you can survive in space without a space suit or any other protection, with no long term damage.

During that discussion we get side tracked talking about why the Apollo 13 crew got so cold on their trip when space is not cold at all, but rather a great insulator, and why they didn’t simply put on their space suits to keep warm.

We then discuss at length the amazingly fascinating way in which airline planes get oxygen to passengers when there is no central oxygen store aboard the plane, outside of the pilot’s emergency supply. Then we look at the equally interesting way in which they get oxygen to passengers when there is a loss of cabin pressure- again, given there is no central oxygen store aboard the plane for passengers.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 3: How to Scratch an Itch in Space, the Surprisingly Long Time You Can Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit, Why the Apollo 13 Astronauts Got Cold, and Much, Much More appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we begin by following up on a previous discussion on what the first good movie based on a computer game was.  We then jump right into the various ways in which astronauts have managed their necessary expulsions over the years and some hilarious stories and interesting related facts that go along with that, including the teased Apollo 10 incident from The Final Frontier Part 1.

We then discuss the lost skill of women peeing standing up without getting any pee on themselves or their underwear in the process, and how exactly this is done with no equipment required.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 2: How Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space and How Women Can Safely Pee Standing Up appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we kick off a series on space related facts. Before we get started in that, however, we do some follow up answering the question of whether the Allies in WWII used prisoners of war as slave labor.  We then jump into the topic of the real life job of Space DJ, then the saga of the Pillownaughts.

On another, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Final Frontier Part 1: Real Life Space DJs and the Pillownaughts appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, which is partially a continuation of the last, we discuss the bear that was officially a member of the Polish army, how he came to be such and what became of him after WWII ended. We follow this up by discussing the interesting origin of the Live Long and Prosper Vulcan salute.

On another, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The War Bear appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by announcing our current contest winners as well as launch a new contest.  Next up we get into the meat of the episode discussing the remarkable individual who volunteered to be sent to Auschwitz, why he wanted to go, and what happened next. We finish off by discussing an interesting bonus fact about the company Bayer.

If you’d like to learn more about Witold Pilecki as well as read in his own words about much of what is discussed in this episode, go check out: The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Prisoner (+Contest Winners) appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we discuss the interesting story of who came up with the unit of measurement called horsepower and why it got applied to engines.  We also discuss the late 19th century dominance of the electric car and why and when that changed.  Next up we look at the mildly humorous story of who got the first known speeding ticket, as well as the much less humorous story of the first person killed in a car accident.  Finally we finish up by talking about a little-known fascinating fact about James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek).

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The First Road Trip Part 2: In Which We Discuss All Things Tangentially Related appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we discuss the surprisingly long history of the automobile, then move on to discussing what is generally considered the first “modern” car, the Model 3, made by Karl Benz, and how is amazing wife ultimately saved him and the vehicle from obscurity through her extreme audacity and faith in his invention.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The First Road Trip Part 1: The Gumption of Bertha Benz appeared first on Today I Found Out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices